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Mysterious Apple Van Captured on Video in Palo Alto Residential Neighborhood
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Typical analysts. Totally clueless. If Apple would go into the pizza business, they would still predict 10% market share. I seriously wonder what it takes to become business analyst... just kindergarten ? Same as this Kuo guy, lots of noise, but always completely wrong. On the other hand, it's no surprise Apple is looking at the car business. Cars become more and more connected, more software etc. Just wondering, how will it take before we will see Samsung car prototypes ? They are already in the dishwasher business, so shouldn't too hard for them ;-)
Except that everything they make is an electronic which is a derivative of a Mac, so they sort of only do make Macs, in a roundabout way. They are an electronics company, not a car company. Speculating that Apple is building a car is akin to speculating about Ford building a computer, which is retarded and ludicrous.
Why would Apple make a car? I mean really, why? Do you really think that's Apple's direction? Gonna have a car show room in every Apple store, where you can pay an absurd sticker price for a car that requires the Apple ecosystem and proprietary overpriced charging docks/cables, where you have to open up 15 of them when it comes time to extend the Apple QC lottery to their newest product? "The chamfered edge on this wheel has a nick!"
They could if they wanted to, but why would they want to? These garbage rumors are much ado about nothing, I'd put a big wager on the fact it's just some mapping crap.
Whats the make and model of the van?
So what is the make and model of the van? Looks like a standard van onto which Apple has slap some devices. I frankly doubt if Apple has prototyped an entire van at this point in time and that van does not look like anything special.
I think it has to do with the rumored "iCarMechanic" project.
No need to go to the repair shop, just slap some Apple devices onto your car and it creates a time bubble around your car and restores it to its original factory state. Apple then charges a monthly fee for the leasing of the equipment. With one sudden swoop Apple takes over the auto and insurance industry, eventually expanding to a home version to repair your home.
Now if only they can power it by solar and wind!
So what is the make and model of the van? Looks like a standard van onto which Apple has slap some devices. I frankly doubt if Apple has prototyped an entire van at this point in time and that van does not look like anything special.
I think it has to do with the rumored "iCarMechanic" project.
No need to go to the repair shop, just slap some Apple devices onto your car and it creates a time bubble around your car and restores it to its original factory state. Apple then charges a monthly fee for the leasing of the equipment. With one sudden swoop Apple takes over the auto and insurance industry, eventually expanding to a home version to repair your home.
Now if only they can power it by solar and wind!
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Apple indeed may be working on self-driving cars, but I have a feeling this is ground-view for Maps, at least short-term (6-18 mo). Later on, I could see how they might be able to leverage the data for self-driving cars, or at least mapping assistance of some sort. Although, I'm not sure how it would help for driving at night. Maybe they're taking infrared data also?
You're right... it wouldn't cost much money for Apple to map and photograph 5 million miles.
That's why I said I hope Apple has something amazing up their sleeves.
I meant to differentiate themselves from what Google already did (and continues to do)
I'm not saying Google is the only company in the world who can do StreetView. I was just wondering what Apple can do different or better.
There's no sense in duplicating what Google has already done, right?
It's an array of cameras and sensors for 3D mapping as an addition to maps, but more refined than streetview, as it captures 3D data as well. you can tell the reason for mapping because of the cameras which are tilted slightly upwards. This allows for an easier capturing of a full spherical panorama. For a selfdriving vehicle you would need more sensors on a height of 1 m or less to get a precise measurement of obstacle distance. The cameras actually pointing down in the front and the rear are only capturing the road for a higher Resolution image than the one you d get already from maps.
But it would nevertheless make sense if apple is going into the automobile market. It is quite probable that they will acquire Tesla anytime soon, as they started already with moving the staff over.
But it would nevertheless make sense if apple is going into the automobile market. It is quite probable that they will acquire Tesla anytime soon, as they started already with moving the staff over.
Apple is not an electronics company. They are a design company that monetizes their software & services by selling consumer hardware. They accomplish this by leveraging the following strengths;
1. Vertical integration of hardware / software / services
2. World class supply chain capability. Probably second to none
3. Brand cachet
Any consumer product that Apple feels they can make an impact by leveraging their strengths / business model is fair game. And yes, that potentially can include a car.
Who told you that? Google maps has a beautiful picture of my house from last summer. How do I know? Because the camper I bought last summer is in my driveway in the picture.
this seems more like a street-view type thing. but who knows. i don't really want an apple car, i just want an apple-made stereo for my car/truck
Can they really build an electric car or is this total BS? I don't buy the whole driverless car thing, the technology is not there yet. They don't have the infrastructure to sell and maintain a car dealership network. And what would happen to their relationship with the auto companies re CarPlay if they did. I just don't believe this rumour unless they're willing to buy an established player to buy their way into the market.
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1. They've not been doing too well on the software and services front lately
2. World class supply chain that still can't keep up with peak demand
3. Agreed they have amazing brand cache driven almost entirely by hardware
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1. They've not been doing too well on the software and services front lately
2. World class supply chain that still can't keep up with peak demand
3. Agreed they have amazing brand cache driven almost entirely by hardware
Come on, peak demand that was 50% more than the year before, that no company has ever experienced! You're going to fault them for not gearing up for that? You do know that there are actually physical constraints to production. It is possible that their part manufacturer can't produce faster because their lines are maxed out. They're not going to put another line in just so Apple products are not delayed for 1 month a year.
I wish Apple would do something about it, at least a warning or something. Maybe they'll do something about it with iOS 9.
I don't think "subtle" will do the trick. What they really need is a gyroscopic flywheel that forces the phone into a horizontal position.
There's no way Apple can release and sell a self driving car. For the simple reason that they cannot offer support for it. What happens when the car breaks down? You tow it to the nearest Apple store? Ship it back to Cupertino? How are they going to fix the cars? They don't have the facilities for it. It's a whole different industry. They can't rely on 3rd party car mechanics to fix their high tech car either.